While several bullhooks were brought into City Council chambers as evidence Thursday – one even passed around on the dais – these instruments, used to train circus animals, will be prohibited from use on elephants within city limits starting in fall 2016. Critics of bullhooks say the sharp-tipped tool breaks the skin of elephants, causing […]
Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
Posted inParks
Parkland dedication fee proposal raises questions
As the city’s Parks and Recreation Department gears up to propose an increase to its parkland dedication fee, local groups and City Council Member Sheri Gallo are questioning whether it’s the right fee for the department to be boosting. The proposed hike comes in two forms: New developers must either dedicate land on which to […]
Posted inParks
Naming protocol on the way for city parks
The road to naming city parks and recreation facilities has been strewn with indecision and tough choices. And so, the Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday said it would begin drafting its own protocol for the naming and renaming of its land and buildings. “This has been an issue that has really troubled us as […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment, Uncategorized
Industry leaders discuss policy potentials to secure Austin’s music scene
People active in the Austin music business gathered Thursday at a studio space on East Fifth Street to talk about issues inhibiting the growth and sustainability of the city’s music life – a talk organizers called “State of the Arts,” held at Studium, a co-disciplinary space. With two musicians, one show organizer and a City […]
Posted inBicycles, Transit, Transportation
Capital Metro to consider bikes on last-ride buses
The Bicycle Advisory Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution asking Capital Metro to consider allowing bicycles on city buses for the final ride of the night. This would allow a bus with a full bike rack to still accept those riders carrying home bicycles. While some members and attendees called for bikes on buses […]
Posted inParks, Resources
Parks Department sat on Metz Pool repair bid for nearly 6 months
Although the city’s Parks and Recreation Department ordered the repair of an East Austin neighborhood pool in late April, it appears that the department had bids for the work for some time. This, even as department officials initially told residents that the pool would have to be closed for the 2015 summer season and then […]
Posted inParks, Resources
Communication breaks down between city and community over Sunken Garden tree removal
When the city of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department decided to remove three trees from Sunken Garden, home to one of the three cardinal springs that feed Barton Springs, it did so before seeking community input — and now the feedback isn’t so favorable. Michael Fossum of the Austin Heritage Tree Foundation said it was not […]
Posted inParks, Resources
Should Austin’s small parks be held to different standards?
The Parks and Recreation Department says it does not make sense to create a unique policy addressing pocket parks – small urban parks less than 2 acres in size – despite the challenges faced by locals who say it has taken too long to build one in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Ricardo Soliz, manager of […]
Posted inAustin
Shelter dogs to get playgroups, not paid dog walkers
Austin’s new Chief Animal Services Officer, Tawny Hammond, said Monday she will institute part of a City Council recommendation intended to deal with concerns that dogs in the city’s shelters were not getting out of their cages enough. Hammond said the city will not hire paid dog walkers, like the resolution recommended, but will instead […]
Posted inParks
New parkland dedication fee would “maintain” park-to-person ratio
With recent unanimous approval from members of the city’s Planning Commission, the Parks and Recreation Department says it might soon be able to recalibrate the fee it charges residential developers in lieu of making parkland available. Developers unwilling or unable to put aside park acres in proportion to the amount of land on which they […]
Posted inTransportation
Google self-driving car now in Austin, policy not
A young man steered Google’s white Lexus RX – outfitted with a small sensor full of lasers, radars and cameras on its roof – down Riverside Drive on Tuesday. Arguably, the driver’s presence was a redundancy: The car that left the Long Center just before noon drives itself, and is now being tested by Google on the […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Parks Department collects more from special events ticket sales
The city of Austin collected more than double the previous year’s amount of money from Austin City Limits Music Festival ticket sales last year, following a new fee schedule adopted by City Council starting in the 2013-2014 budget year. In 2013, the city pocketed roughly $438,000 from ACL festival ticket sales. That revenue more than […]